Even Georgians Campaigning for Bob McDonnell

“I’m energized to be working for Bob McDonnell. I’m from Georgia, but I wish I lived in Virginia, so I could vote for him.” Joe McCutchen, Volunteer for Bob McDonnell from Georgia

Virginia has been a bellwether state for as long as I can remember. Its odd year elections keeps it on the heels of Presidential elections and puts the Commonwealth in the crosshairs of political operations for new presidents and those who want to unseat them. In the last 10 years, it has represented growth for Democrats. Tim Kaine is the current governor and was supposed to be a new way for the Democrats. He is the current DNC Chairman and there have been high hopes for him to reach out to religious people outside of the Democrat party, but also to make religious people more comfortable within the party.

The election of Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia is no less important this year. Creigh Deeds is the Democrat and will be facing Bob McDonnell, the Republican. Bob was the Commonwealth Attorney General, elected in 2005, and resigned to run for governor. He’s a veteran and he’s caught the attention of conservatives around the country, even in Georgia.

It was about 9 months ago when Joe McCutchen, a regular caller to my program, told my audience about McDonnell’s campaign for governor. Joe’s got family in Virginia and he’s also a big Georgia Tech football fan. So when the opportunity came to mix politics with college football this past weekend, he couldn’t pass it up.

He headed up Thursday with his family for the Georgia Tech vs. Virginia football game and spent his days and nights out campaigning for Bob McDonnell. He got up every morning and did his 4 mile daily walk in a different neighborhood talking to folks about conservative powerhouse Bob McDonnell.

He went to restaurants and gathering places all around Virginia and talked up the Republican nominee for Virginia’s governor. Joe believes the election of McDonnell, a conservative Republican, will send a message to President Obama. “Here in Virginia, it’s going to be a shot heard around the world on too much spending and wasting our tax money. Virginians are going to elect Bob McDonnell. I wish I could vote for him,” McCutchen said. He also met a member of the Virginia House of Delegates, Chris Saxman, who predicted a 14 point win for Bob McDonnell and Joe enthusiastically, agrees.

Long before “change you can believe in,” Virginia was the place to look for political change. Since the governor of Virginia is limited to one term, it’s always up for grabs. But this time, it’s even more important. Democrats pointed to the election of Mark Warner (now U. S. Sen. Warner) and Tim Kaine as the beginning of the end of the Bush Era, and to some degree they were right. Electing a Republican in Virginia — a conservative Republican, in the Age of Obama — could be a clarion call for conservatives.

This coming weekend, Andrew Laarhoven and College Republicans from all over the State of Georgia head to Virginia to campaign and help from the last hours of the campaign through Election Day.

While President Obama will campaign with Democrat Creigh Deeds on Tuesday, White House insiders are already preparing the press for a Democrat loss in Virginia by throwing Deeds under the bus. They say, on background, that Deeds was not a good candidate, so his defeat can’t be blamed on President Obama.

But back in Virginia, Joe McCutchen is fired up. He sees a McDonnell win as a rejection of the swift direction the President has taken the country towards more debt, higher taxes and government intrusion into health care. Joe is also a small business owner and believes the Obama administration policies will stifle small business and slow down the fledgling recovery. “The passion of the people up here for McDonnell is shocking, in a good way,” Joe says.

As a long time Georgia Tech fan, he was delighted that Georgia Tech stomped Virginia on the football field on Saturday, but he’s more “fired up about the conservative cause.” Joe found out about Bob McDonnell from his brother-in-law: “He told me about him about a year ago and I came up here this summer to campaign for McDonnell before the primary. I knew he was something special then.”

When asked if he’s met other people who were in from other states campaigning, Joe said, “I’m so busy talking to Virginia people, I haven’t noticed.”

Is Virginia the beginning of the turn-around for conservatives? Joe McCutchen thinks so. Bob McDonnell is a real conservative and a great Virginian. He could be the beginning of the end of the Age of Obama.